Remember Paris Hilton? No? Then let us refresh your memory: She made a sex tape, got a reality show, went to jail, then mercifully faded into obscurity with the rise of the Kardashian juggernaut. Alas, she's back in the news, and (shocker) it's because she's once again said something reprehensible.

This time around, her remarks were directed at the gay community.

Radar Online has obtained an audiotape of Paris that was made by a cab driver on Sept. 7, when she was in New York for Fashion Week. The snippet was apparently recorded during a ride she took with a gay male model pal, who was showing her the ins and outs of the gay hookup app Grindr.

"Ewww," she responds while apparently looking at the app. "Gay guys are the horniest people in the world. … They're disgusting. … Dude, most of them probably have AIDS."

Paris, sans her usual breathy, baby-doll voice, adds, "I would be so scared if I was a gay guy. … You'll, like, die of AIDS."

As expected, Hilton's rep has an explanation for the comments, tap-dancing to Radar that they "were to express that it is dangerous for anyone to have unprotected sex that could lead to a life threatening disease."

See, "The conversation became heated after a close gay friend told her in a cab ride, a story about a gay man who has AIDS and is knowingly having unprotected sex," continues the mouthpiece. "He also discussed a website that encourages random sex by gay men with strangers. As she was being shown the website, her comments were in reference to those people promoting themselves on the site. The cab driver who recorded this only provided a portion of the conversation."

Besides, it wasn't Paris' "intent to make any derogatory comments about all gays," insists the hole-digging rep. "Paris Hilton is a huge supporter of the gay community and would never purposefully make any negative statements about anyone's sexual orientation."

This is hardly Hilton's first time at the offensive rodeo. In 2004, she was reportedly caught on camera using the N-word; in 2007, she was seen on video repeatedly yelling a gay slur that rhymes with "maggot," along with once again using the N-word; in 2010, paparazzi snapped her making what appeared to be a Nazi salute (her publicist claimed she was just dancing and scratching her nose); and a 2011 book by Neil Strauss quoted her as sneering, "I can't stand black guys. I would never touch one. It's gross."

In contrast, her 2008 dis of former pal Kim Kardashian seems almost complimentary. Paris referred to Kim's posterior as "cottage cheese inside a big trash bag."